toilet flange

[keytrnr]

Hello,
I have a 1 yr old home with a pvc toilet flange on tile floor. A couple weeks ago, I cracked the flange by tightening down too tight on the toilet. Not to worry... I found a stainless steel metal flange repair ring at the hardware store. A couple of the original screw holes already seemed stripped, but I have I believe 4 screws connecting the repair ring to the original flange. While screwing one in, I heard a slight crack. Had drilled pilot holes for my own screws because repair ring holes didn't all match up. Don't see any new crack other than the first crack on the opposite side of flange (where closet bolts attach) seemed to be a little worse. Seems pretty stable. While repairing, the flange appeared to lift up slightly, so I pushed it back down and haven't had it move since, even when I tried pulling up on it. Weird, since it appears to be threaded and glued inside another pipe, but kinda hard to tell for sure. Not sure what flange screws are going into, if anything. If I don't see any visible cracks inside the pipe or on/in the flange other than the closet bolt area of the original flange, should I just leave well enough alone and not worry about it? I used a new wax ring with the funnel on it and put the toilet back down.

Thanks to anyone with advice.

 

[Gary Swart]

The flange raising up concerns me more than the cracking noise. Since you have the toilet reset and it appears to be solid, I'd leave well enough alone but do be alert for any movement in the future. If it does move, you may have to replace the entire flange.

 

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[keytrnr]

Thanks Gary,
I also put some silicone around the original flange. Can a plumber cut the pipe from inside the drain pipe to replace the flange rather than having to cut my tile area out around the toilet to get to it? Thanks for the help.

 

[Jadnashua]

Yes. A pro might be able to peel off the old flange, but if that doesn't work, there are interior pipe cutters. Depends on the situation how easy or hard it is.

 

[Gary Swart]

A plumber can do a lot of things that we DIYers don't know how to do and/or don't have the tools for. I often quote Dirty Harry's line, "A man's got to know his limitations" in situations like this. We tend to try to do things that are beyond our limitations then have to spend more money to fix our screw-ups than if we had just call the professional to begin with.

 

[keytrnr]

Funny. Thanks a bunch Gary.